Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Department of Corrections
ATTN: Library Services Administrator
2601 Blair Stone Road
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2500

April 17, 2012

RE: Appeal of the censorship decision regarding book sent to prisoner XXX from MIM Distributors

To Whom it May Concern:

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution. MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a photocopy of a book titled ?Palante Young Lords Party? by Michael Abramson.

We recently received from the Santa Rosa CI a notice of impoundment of publication (attached), which informs us that the above publication was impounded because it allegedly ?presents a threat to the security, good order, or discipline of the correctional system or the safety of any person?. The form cites "pages 1 thru 6 gang activity" as the page numbers in the publication where the inadmissible material is to be found.

I believe the mailroom staff at Santa Rosa CI seem to have completely misunderstood the content and the purpose of the publication we sent to the above mentioned prisoner. The first six pages of the photocopy actually tell the story of a social movement that organized many programs to help the Puerto Rican communities in New York City and Philadelphia; such programs are briefly described in the above mentioned pages and among them a program for lead poisoning detection and a free breakfast program are particularly analyzed.

This book clearly focuses on social work and on community oriented services. It is unclear how the mailroom staff may have viewed the content of the publication as related to gang activity. In other words, it couldn?t be more evident that the mailroom staff have completely misunderstood the content and the purpose of the publication we sent to the prisoner or, in the alternative, that a thorough review of the publication hasn?t actually been conducted at all.

It is important to note that the U.S. Supreme Court has already stated in Procunier v. Martinez, 416, U.S. 396 (1974) and in Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490, U.S. at 416 n. 14 (1989), that prison officials violate the First Amendment when for reasons unrelated to legitimate penological interests they engage in "censorship of . . . expression of 'inflammatory political, racial, religious or other views'."

Lastly, the motivation alleged to support the censorship determination seems to be too vague and not sufficiently articulate to satisfy the threshold of adequate motivation established by the U.S. Supreme Court. Federal Courts have stated in several occasions that "Prison authorities cannot rely on general or conclusory assertions to support their policies." Walker v. Sumner (9th Cir. 1990) 917 F.2d 382, 385 and that "Unsupported security claims couldn't justify infringement on First Amendment rights." Crofton v. Roe (9th Cir. 1999) 170 F.3d 957.

Based on the above considerations, we request that you decide to allow the book to be delivered to prisoners held in Santa Rosa Correctional Institution.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors

CC: Affected parties

Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099

April 3, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Clements Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to several prisoners from MIM Distributors


Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Clements Unit in Amarillo, Texas.

MIM Distributors sent several prisoners in Clements Unit a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.

We recently learned from several prisoners that they never received the publication listed above. Most of these prisoners appealed the exclusion of Under Lock & Key No 23, and sent MIM Distributors the Director's Review Committee decision to deny the publication. MIM Distributors never received any notice of censorship determination from your Department or the mailroom staff at Clements Unit.

The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."

Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors) or prisoner, under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of our materials;
2. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Clements Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoner.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors


CC: Affected parties

John Adams, Senior Warden
Clements Unit
9601 Spur 591
Amarillo, TX 79107-9606

Jason Heaton, Region V Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region V Director's Office
304 West 6th Street
Plainview, TX 79072

Prison denied any censorship

Your publication/material MIM Distributors, Under Lock & Key, Sept/Oct 2011, No. 22, is on the Master List of Disapproved Publications list of the Division of Prisons. The publication/material violates Division of Prison policy at section D.0 109 and is disapproved for the reason listed.
...
There are no additional appeal rights to this decision.
...

Reason .0 109 I Materials which are used or which reasonably appear likely to be used to intimidate or sexually harass facility staff or visitors.
Reason for Disapproval: Contains information which may intimidate staff.

Prisoner states "as on Jan 23, 2012 has been placed on the master ban list statewide. However, this time around they changed the reasons for disapproval from "advocates armed overthrow of U.S. government" to "describes and encourages disruption of operations." This shows that they were seeking ANY reason to disapprove and permanently ban this publication."

Assistant Director of Support Services
North Carolina Department of Corrections
Division of Prisons
4260 MSC
Raleigh, NC, 27699-4260

March 13, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution ? exclusion of publications sent to prisoner XXX by MIM Distributors.

I am writing this letter about what seems to be a censorship incident that recently occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution in Morganton, North Carolina.

MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a magazine titled MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on two separate occasions: once on December 16, 2011 and again on February 7, 2012.

We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr. XXX) that he never received the publications listed above. On January 4, 2012 Mr. XXX received a Notice to Inmate of Disapproval & Appeal/Waiver Form for the first copy of the magazine. Mr. XXX appealed the censorship on January 5, 2012. In February 2012, Mr. XXX informed MIM Distributors that the publication was placed on the Master List of Disapproved Publications on January 23, 2012.

I am writing you this letter to inform you that MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of disapproval about this magazine at any stage in the process outlined above. Therefore we believe that putting MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on the Master List of Disapproved Publications without first offering the publisher appeal rights is a violation of the United States Constitution, and your own Department's Policies.

Your Division of Prisons Policy D.0100 states at sections D.0103 and D.0107 that respectively prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations and entitles both the sender and the recipient to appeal rejections of publications.

The same Policy obligates your mailroom staff to come to a determination within 7 days from the arrival of the publication.

Both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)). In plain and striking contradiction with these principles, neither Mr. McCrae, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision.

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner (Mr. McCrae) and the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests

➢ to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of the above-named magazine
➢ and for the above-named magazine to be removed from the Master List of Disapproved Publications until an appeals process with all relevant parties involved can be carried out.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors
P.O. Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140

CC: Affected parties

Lander Corpening, Administrator
Foothills Correctional Institution
5150 Western Ave
Morganton, NC 28655

Warden (A) William Knipp
Mule Creek State Prison
P.O. Box 409099
Ione, CA 95640

March 14, 2012

RE: Censorship incidents occurred at Mule Creek State Prison ? exclusion of publication sent to Mr. XXX

Dear Warden Knipp,

I am writing this letter about what seems to be a censorship incident that occurred at Mule Creek State Prison. MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a magazine titled MIM Theory 10: Labor Aristocracy on 01/30/2012. This magazine was in an envelope with another publication that the prisoner received.

Even though Mr. XXX received the other contents of the 01/30/2012 envelope, he did not receive any notice or determination from your Department explaining whether and why the magazine was censored. MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination either.

Your DOM states at sections 54010.16 and 54010.21.3 that respectively prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations and entitles both the sender and the recipient to appeal rejections of publications and letters.

As of now, it is impossible for us to understand why the letters and publications haven?t been delivered to the inmate and whether or not the Administration has decided to censor them.

As you are certainly aware, the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly stated that both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)). In plain and striking contradiction with these principles, neither the prisoner, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision or actually of any decisions that the Mailroom staff has made with regard to the publication sent to Mr. Barnett.

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner and the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

In addition, the practice of holding publications and/or letters for an indefinite time without providing notice of any determination is certainly unconstitutional, as it does not satisfy the obligation that the prison administration has to provide both the sender and the recipient with a decision in a reasonable time and ultimately frustrates the right that both the sender and the prisoner have to appeal a negative determination.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests
1) to know whether or not a determination has been made over the mentioned letters and publications;
2) in case of a negative determination, to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials.
3) We also request that adequate notice be provided to the prisoner.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors
PO Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140


CC: Affected parties

Michael Stainer, Warden (A)
California Correctional Institution
P. O. Box 1031
Tehachapi, CA 93581

April 4, 2012

RE: Censorship incidents occurred at California Correctional Institution ? exclusion of publications sent to prisoner XXX from MIM Distributors



Dear Warden Stainer,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at California Correctional Institution (CCI). I wrote to you on March 15, 2012 regarding a similar issue -- the censorship of Under Lock & Key No. 22 (September/October 2011) sent to Mr. XXX. I never received a response from you to my March 15, 2012 letter. I am writing this letter because, again, MIM Distributors did not receive notification for the censorship of several items intended for delivery to Mr. XXX.

MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner several different publications. Precisely we sent Mr. XXX:
1. Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011) sent via USPS Presorted Standard Mail on November 19, 2011
2. A large manila envelope containing Under Lock & Key No. 24 (January/February 2012) and MIM Theory 10: Labor Aristocracy sent via USPS Presorted Standard Mail on January 30, 2012

We recently learned from the prisoner that he never received any of the above listed publications. MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination from CCI Mailroom staff. As of now, it is impossible for us to understand why the publications haven?t been delivered to the inmate and whether or not the Administration has decided to censor them.

Your DOM states at sections 54010.16 and 54010.21.3 that prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations, and entitles both the sender and the recipient to appeal rejections of publications.

As you are certainly aware, the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly stated that both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner and the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to know whether or not a determination has been made over the listed publications;
2. in case of a negative determination, to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials;
3. and for all future censorship determinations at CCI to be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notifications and appeal rights.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors



CC: Affected parties

CDCR, Office of the Ombudsman
1515 S Street, Room 124 South
Sacramento, CA 95811

Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099

April 3, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Clements Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to several prisoners from MIM Distributors


Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Clements Unit in Amarillo, Texas.

MIM Distributors sent several prisoners in Clements Unit a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.

We recently learned from several prisoners that they never received the publication listed above. Most of these prisoners appealed the exclusion of Under Lock & Key No 23, and sent MIM Distributors the Director's Review Committee decision to deny the publication. MIM Distributors never received any notice of censorship determination from your Department or the mailroom staff at Clements Unit.

The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."

Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors) or prisoner, under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of our materials;
2. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Clements Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoner.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,


MIM Distributors


CC: Affected parties

John Adams, Senior Warden
Clements Unit
9601 Spur 591
Amarillo, TX 79107-9606

Jason Heaton, Region V Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region V Director's Office
304 West 6th Street
Plainview, TX 79072

Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099

April 3, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Lewis Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to prisoner xxx from MIM Distributors


Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Gib Lewis Unit in Woodville, Texas.

MIM Distributors sent the above named prisoner a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.

We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr. xxx) that he never received the publication listed above. I am writing because MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination from your Department or the mailroom staff at Lewis Unit.

The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."

Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to know what determination has been made over the mentioned publication;
2. in case of a negative determination, to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision, and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials;
3. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Lewis Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoner.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,


MIM Distributors


CC: Affected parties

Cody Ginsel, Senior Warden
Gib Lewis Unit
777 FM 3497
Woodville, TX 75990

Michael Upshaw, Region I Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region I Director?s Office
1225 Avenue G
Huntsville, TX 77340

Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099

April 3, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Hughes Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to several prisoners from MIM Distributors


Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Hughes Unit in Gatesville, Texas.

MIM Distributors sent several prisoners at Hughes Unit a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.

We recently learned from several people at Hughes Unit that they never received the publication listed above. Instead it was censored. We are aware that some people appealed the censorship decision, and that it was upheld by the Director's Review Committee. I am writing because MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination from your Department, either from the mailroom staff at Hughes Unit, or from the Director's Review Committee.

The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."

Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to appeal the censorship decision to exclude Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011);
3. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Hughes Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoners.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors


CC: Affected parties

Edward Smith, Senior Warden
Hughes Unit
Route 2, Box 4400
Gatesville, TX 76597

Gilbert Campuzano, Region VI Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region VI Director's Office
4616 West Howard Lane, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78728

From: Mailroom
Subject: DRC Ruling on Publication

This is to inform you that the DRC upheld the MSCP denial of the following publication:

Publication Under Lock & Key Date Nov/Dec 2011 N 23
DRC denial date 1/18/12

Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099

April 3, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Hughes Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to several prisoners from MIM Distributors


Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Hughes Unit in Gatesville, Texas.

MIM Distributors sent several prisoners at Hughes Unit a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.

We recently learned from several people at Hughes Unit that they never received the publication listed above. Instead it was censored. We are aware that some people appealed the censorship decision, and that it was upheld by the Director's Review Committee. I am writing because MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination from your Department, either from the mailroom staff at Hughes Unit, or from the Director's Review Committee.

The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."

Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to appeal the censorship decision to exclude Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011);
3. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Hughes Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoners.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors


CC: Affected parties

Edward Smith, Senior Warden
Hughes Unit
Route 2, Box 4400
Gatesville, TX 76597

Gilbert Campuzano, Region VI Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region VI Director's Office
4616 West Howard Lane, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78728

Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099

April 3, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Clements Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to several prisoners from MIM Distributors


Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Clements Unit in Amarillo, Texas.

MIM Distributors sent several prisoners in Clements Unit a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.

We recently learned from several prisoners that they never received the publication listed above. Most of these prisoners appealed the exclusion of Under Lock & Key No 23, and sent MIM Distributors the Director's Review Committee decision to deny the publication. MIM Distributors never received any notice of censorship determination from your Department or the mailroom staff at Clements Unit.

The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."

Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. XXXXXX, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors) or prisoner, under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of our materials;
2. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Clements Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoner.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors


CC: Affected parties

John Adams, Senior Warden
Clements Unit
9601 Spur 591
Amarillo, TX 79107-9606

Jason Heaton, Region V Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region V Director's Office
304 West 6th Street
Plainview, TX 79072

Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099

April 3, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Smith Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to prisoner XXX from MIM Distributors


Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Smith Unit in Lamesa, Texas.

MIM Distributors sent the above named prisoner a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.

We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr. XXX) that he never received the publication listed above. I am writing because MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination from your Department, either from the mailroom staff at Smith Unit, or from the Director's Review Committee.

The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."

Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to know what determination has been made over the mentioned publication;
2. in case of a negative determination, to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision, and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials;
3. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Smith Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,


MIM Distributors


CC: Affected parties

Richard Vogelgesang, Senior Warden
Smith Unit
1313 CR 19
Lamesa, TX 79331-1898

Jason Heaton, Region V Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region V Director's Office
304 West 6th Street
Plainview, TX 79072

Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099

April 3, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Clements Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to several prisoners from MIM Distributors


Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Clements Unit in Amarillo, Texas.

MIM Distributors sent several prisoners in Clements Unit a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.

We recently learned from several prisoners that they never received the publication listed above. Most of these prisoners appealed the exclusion of Under Lock & Key No 23, and sent MIM Distributors the Director's Review Committee decision to deny the publication. MIM Distributors never received any notice of censorship determination from your Department or the mailroom staff at Clements Unit.

The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."

Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors) or prisoner, under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of our materials;
2. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Clements Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoner.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,


MIM Distributors


CC: Affected parties

John Adams, Senior Warden
Clements Unit
9601 Spur 591
Amarillo, TX 79107-9606

Jason Heaton, Region V Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region V Director's Office
304 West 6th Street
Plainview, TX 79072

Warden (A) Michael Stainer
California Correctional Institution
P. O. Box 1031
Tehachapi, CA 93581

March 14, 2012

RE: Censorship incidents occurred at California Correctional Institution ? exclusion of publications sent to Mr. XXX

Dear Warden Stainer,

I am writing this letter about what seems to be a censorship incident that occurred at California Correctional Institution. MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned multiple items which he never received.

Precisely MIM Distributors sent Mr. XXX:
? Under Lock & Key issue 22 (September/ October 2011) sent via Presorted Standard Mail on 09/21/2011
? Under Lock & Key issue 23 (November/December 2011) sent via Presorted Standard Mail on 11/18/2011

We recently learned from the prisoner that he never received these materials. Nor did he receive any notice or determination from your Department explaining whether and why the publications were censored. MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination either.

Your DOM states at sections 54010.16 and 54010.21.3 that respectively prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations and entitles both the sender and the recipient to appeal rejections of publications and letters.

As of now, it is impossible for us to understand why the letters and publications haven?t been delivered to the inmate and whether or not the Administration has decided to censor them.

As you are certainly aware, the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly stated that both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)). In plain and striking contradiction with these principles, neither the prisoner, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision or actually of any decisions that the Mailroom staff has made with regard to the publication sent to Mr. Barnett.

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner and the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

In addition, the practice of holding publications and/or letters for an indefinite time without providing notice of any determination is certainly unconstitutional, as it does not satisfy the obligation that the prison administration has to provide both the sender and the recipient with a decision in a reasonable time and ultimately frustrates the right that both the sender and the prisoner have to appeal a negative determination.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests
1) to know whether or not a determination has been made over the mentioned letters;
2) in case of a negative determination, to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials.
3) We also request that adequate notice be provided to the prisoner.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors
PO Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140


CC: Affected parties